Thursday, March 5, 2009

I would like to be able to build on it; a number of relatives of members are asking for the magic formula to get their loved ones out of the cult

My thought/headline of the week: Legion of Christ Deceitfully Defends Maciel and Self

We have read a lot involving LC defense of Maciel and the group, along the lines of he was a sinner, human frailty, King David, etc. beside the plate in the head excuse -you probably remember more...

By focusing public/Catholic attention on this whole sinner thing they are diverting attention from the issue: How can a man who is humanly, morally and psychologically bankrupt have a positive charism? If they continue to insist on that there is still some kind of positive charism, i can only exclaim, like the man in the Gospels, "I believe, Legion, help thou my unbelief".

Moreover, if we search deeper for Maciel's real "charism", we find the almost diabolical capacity to deceive people, and which seems to have been inherited by the group. Paraphrasing Jose Barba in his recent Univision appearance* where he described and acknowledged Maciel's brutal sexual assault which made his penis bleed; "Yes, but the way he was able to deceive people; now, that is brutal"

Monday, March 2, 2009

Relatives and Friends of young people in the Controversial Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi Movement are desperately trying to get their loved ones out.

The present urge stems from hearing about Fr. Maciel's secretly fathering a young woman who is now in her 20s and living in Spain, as well as furtively using large amounts of cash for his "personal expenses". Catholic blogs have been screaming for more information and appropriate measures from Legion leadership. The news, leaked from the inside by Movement Leaders, is the last straw for Parents who were growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Movement's excessive control of their children. Many observers have seen a connection between the Founder's breach of celibacy and previous credible accusations of pedophilia leveled at this figure, venerated and "idolized" by the members.

Relatives, friends, and members wonder how far the Founder's secretive "double-life" reached and how it may have affected the Movement's "Charism", that is, its specific spiritual gift to the members, the Church and the World. Under the gun, Legion leaders are coming up short. They seems to be at a loss to explain what the Movement's specific charism is in the first place.

Despite the Movement's intensive campaign of minimization and information control, the Media, Catholics and concerned public will not let Legion leadership off the hook. "Questions and Answers" posted here on Feb 24 appear to me the mechanism the Leadership has been using to control the damage inside the ranks. These measures are meant to minimize Maciel's behavior, protect his image as founder, placate members and outsiders, and explain away his unacceptable behaviors. Members are told to "Apologize, apologize, apologize" in order to placate those who are rightly indignant and in disagreement with the leaders's reading of the events. The Movement attempts to re-write recent history just as it re wrote the Founder's previous separation from the order by the Vatican 1956-59. At the time it was called "The War" [Sp., La Guerra, meaning a war waged against the founder and the legion by forces out to destroy them]; later it was rebaptized as "The Great Blessing"...

Of particular importance in the present debate is the very strong statement -see LINK- by the Archbishop of Baltimore expressing his reservations about the Legion/Regnum Movement and the withdrawl of his pastoral support, saying that he "cannot in good conscience" recommend the order or the Movement.